Hmm. Ok, I could be getting this wrong, as I only have the posted chapters of Midnight Sun as reference (my books are at home). But...

If I'm thinking of the right conversation, this is the point Edward starts speaking to Bella again after the accident. When he says the line, he adds "Trust me." This is the same line he used on Bella during the accident- and she remembers when he broke the promise he'd made (about telling her the truth later, in the hospital), so this is why she says "I'd heard that before." She's upset because he's asking her to trust him, but he's broken her trust previously. In this light, it has nothing to do with any prior romantic involvements of Bella's.

I agree, I think she is more referring to Edward's cryptic sayings about staying away from her and such. She could also be thinking of it in the sense that it is a common line, not original and feels like it is just a blow off. Bella is also thinking at that point that he is saying this because she thinks he can tell that she is obsessed with him and he wouldn't want to lead her on. This line would also seem common in that way of thinking as well.

"Fall down again, Bella?""No, Emmett. I punched a werewolf in the face."

Jazz Girl wrote:Sorry! Sorry! I had a work event last night and didn't get home until well after 1 am. But, on the flip side, I get to spend a week in Maui in November for less than $200. Not a bad night's work! Hahaha! I just hope I have room for the saga, plus my clothes and stuff. Bah! What am I saying? I can buy clothes there! Ahhh... a week on a beach with Twilight. Not quite as good as 17 days on Isle Esme with Edward, but I'll take what I can get!

Sorry, I digress.

Questions....questions.... Ahh....Try this one.

In Twilight, when Edward tells Bella, "it's better that we're not friends," Bella answers, "I'd heard that before." Given what we've been told about her lack of romantic history, from whom had she heard that? Who didn't want to be her friend and what were the circumstances that made that event so relateable to Edward's statement?

The only thing I can figure is she may have had a crush on some guy in Phoenix and he gave her that same line, which can hurt if the feelings are one-sided. Also from a platonic stand point, she may have had a friend, male or female, that may have had some peer pressure about who to hang out with, and Bella was left out in the cold as not part of the "in crowd" - that sort of thing.

I am almost 100% positive that she is referring to things that Edward himself has told her before about how he isn't good for her, or they shouldn't be friends, or I'm not a good friend for you, etc...

Here's a question I've been mulling over... What do you think would have happened if Edward had met Bella when he was human (ignoring the whole dying of influenza thing...)

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---------"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."

I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.

"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.

"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."

My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before.---------

(SPOLER ALERT!)

And now I'm quoting from Midnight Sun:

---------I tried to get as much of a warning through to her as was allowed. "It's better if we're not friends." Surely, she could sense that much. She was a bright girl. "Trust me."

Her eyes tightened, and I remembered that I had said those words to her before- just before breaking a promise. I winced when her teeth clenched together- she clearly remembered, too.---------

It's the same scene, of course. So, Bella is clearly reacting to the fact that he's asked her to trust her before, but he broke a promise right after that, so why should she trust him now?

roseaurora brings up a great question. I believe there's a number of fanfics that attempt to answer that very question. I think that Edward would still have pursued her. Going with Carlisle's theory, about how they bring their strongest qualities with them into the next life, he hypothesizes that Edward was already very in tune with the way people thought. Bella, however, would seem like an enigma to him, simply because she doesn't react the way he thinks she should. I believe that would be enough to attract his attention, and he would end up pursuing her.

Gah!!!! Thank you Ringswraith for clarifying my muddled thinking. I can't believe hadn't ever put two and two together before. As many times as I have read DHN and Twilight back to back, I have always read those as two seperate interaction. I am hanging my head in shame.

RoseAurora, I have wondered that many a time myself. Here again, I agree with Ringswraith. Even as a human, Edward would have been intrigued by Bella's differentness. I have no doubt that her different from the crowd reactions would have him reeling. But, I also think he was greatly attracted to her maturity and her compassion. Even without the additional 90 years or so of life experience, Edward always struck me as an "old soul'. So, I think even as a human, someone who had attitudes and acted a little more mature than your "typical teenager" is what he would find more attractive.

My gut reaction is that had Bella and Edward met in his time, they would not have ended up together. I think that Edward needed the decades as a vampire to be ready for the kind of change his love for Bella would have on him. I think that as a human 17 year old he was too focused on turning 18 and doing what he thought was right... joining the war effort in Europe...

Plus, I think Bella would have been different as a young woman in the early 1900s... I can't see her as being very proper and if she were, it wouldn't be Bella. I think that Edward is tolerant and amused by her snarkiness etc because he understands that the times have changed and has been witness to it. I'm not sure he would have had the same reaction to a young woman in his time who had those same qualities... and if she were proper... she wouldn't be Bella, (There is a good chance I lost you guys on that last point, haha, I think I lost myself as well, but that is the best way I can think to explain what I am thinking...)

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roseaurora wrote:My gut reaction is that had Bella and Edward met in his time, they would not have ended up together. I think that Edward needed the decades as a vampire to be ready for the kind of change his love for Bella would have on him. I think that as a human 17 year old he was too focused on turning 18 and doing what he thought was right... joining the war effort in Europe...

Plus, I think Bella would have been different as a young woman in the early 1900s... I can't see her as being very proper and if she were, it wouldn't be Bella. I think that Edward is tolerant and amused by her snarkiness etc because he understands that the times have changed and has been witness to it. I'm not sure he would have had the same reaction to a young woman in his time who had those same qualities... and if she were proper... she wouldn't be Bella, (There is a good chance I lost you guys on that last point, haha, I think I lost myself as well, but that is the best way I can think to explain what I am thinking...)

RoseAuraora, I see where you are going with this, I think. I am not so sure I completely agree, but it definitely warrants some thought. I do need to ask for clarification on one idea though. What is snarkiness? Sorry, that one just isn't in my lexicon.

lol... I use snarkiness like kind of smart Why are we talking about a donkey?, speaks her mind, sarcastic, that sort of thing... not sure it is the common use, maybe just mine

I think basically what I am getting at is that while I do believe that Bella and Edward are fated to be together, the manner in which they get together was the only way it could happen. Had they met under other circumstances it would not have worked, which is why it happened the way it did. Is that too simplistic, haha?

I don't want to close the topic about them meeting as humans, so please continue to discuss that as well but I have new speculation that came to me as I finished my 3rd reading of Twilight. When James is telling Bella about Alice he mentions that Alice smelled even better than Bella does. Could this be a hint that maybe Alice was the "singer" to the vampire that changed her? Or possibly even to James in some small degree? I just think it is an interesting detail for SM to put in there, especially after the Cullens mention that Bella does smell better that other humans... and yet to James, Alice was even better than Bella....

Edit: I think I take back the idea that Alice was in any way James' singer! Yuck! But I am still very intrigued about her smelling better to him than any other human....

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